Month: May 2015

Semi-final action between the B’s and the Bolts gets underway in South Florida…….

GAME 1
Both teams spend the first period in the feel out stage exchanging few quality scoring chances until Brouwer makes a nice pass to Thornton who beats Scrivens for the first goal of the series and only tally of the opening period.

Bolts start the 2nd with a bit more jump carrying the play but Scrivens stands tall, but the B’s start to show some frustration and are whistled for 3 unanswered penalties in the period with Richards and Carter capitalizing on 2 of them for powerplay goals and a 3-0 TB lead after 40 minutes.

Bruins show their resolve to open the 3rd but it’s Fleury’s turn to stand tall denying a handful of quality chances in the first 6 minutes, then Wheeler gets sent to the sin bin and Carter promptly makes them pay with his 2nd PPG of the game. Fleury denies a few more quality chances as the Bolts went into the shell and the game ends with the 4-0 shutout.

Shots 38-33 TB with both goalies strong on GR’s (Fleury 8-8, Scrivens 6-8). Difference in this one was the Bolts 3 for 4 on the powerplay and the B’s not having a single opportunity with the man advantage.

GAME 2
B’s start fast forcing a Seabrook penalty but the visitors can’t cash in with the man advantage. Moments later Ladd is stoned on a breakaway but then steals the clearing attempt, avoids a hit from Regehr and beats Scrivens with a 1-17 for the games first goal. B’s continue to lead in shots but can’t dent Fleury in the first period.

B’s start the 2nd much like the first with dominating play and are finally rewarded when Perry beats Fleury at 3:21 to tie the game at 1-1. More quality chances for both clubs but the goalies stand tall and we’ll head to the 3rd period deadlocked at 1.

Zuccarello sent to the box early in the 3rd, and on the ensuing faceoff Carter drives hard to the net denied by Scrivens but he gives up a juicy rebound to Kopitar who buries a 1-14 chance for the PPG. A few cards later Regehr coughs up the puck at the Bolts blueline and Carter has a breakaway……..1-12……scores! The 2 goals in 2 minutes seemed to deflate the visitors as the Bolts continued to push the play with Scrivens keeping the deficit close but the Bruins could only amass 5 shots in the period and fall 3-1 in Game 2.

Shots end up 34-28 BOS and again both goalies strong on GR’s (Scrivens 11-11, Fleury 7-8) as thru 2 games Scrivens is 17-19 and Fleury 15-16 but the Bolts have capitalized on their powerplay opportunities (4 for 6) for a 2-0 series lead with the series shifting to Boston.

Toronto took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd that was erased by period’s end. They quickly took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd, but that lead evaporated even quicker. Joe Pavelski scored at 9:01 of the 3rd to put the Coyotes ahead 3-2. And that is how it would stay despite all of the main stats favoring Toronto. The Leafs outshot the Coyotes 45-28 (trailed 10-3 early in the 1st, before taking 42 of the final 60 shots on net) and had 15 GR chances to 2 for Phoenix. But the Coyotes hit on 2 split chances for their final 2 goals and advance tot eh Semifinals.

Congratulations Jay on a terrific win and good luck in the next round.

Game 7 in LA as the Bruins try to comeback from a 3-1 deficit and the Kings try and avoid another playoff failure.

No scoring in the 1st period. Both teams with 2 GRs each. Note: Montoya has stopped 18 GRs in a row now in LA.

2nd period see the home team get on the board as Alexander Semin scores A GR GOAL FINALLY!!!
It ends up being the only goal in the period as Greiss stops all 3 GRs from Boston in the 2nd period. Greiss also stopped Demers (1-5) and Shattenkirk (1-12) to keep the Kings up by 1.

As the 3rd period gets underway, Shea Webers gets a 1-14 chance at 3:39 but it is denied by Montoya.
Corey Perry ties the game at 1-1 at the 7:39 mark.
Fast forward to the last 1:54 of the game and Malkin has a breakaway….GR….save by Greiss!
With less than a minute to go, Patrick Kane has the puck on his stick and coughs it up, Vanek is in GR, SCORE!!!!! Boston takes a 2-1 lead with 39 seconds to go.
LA loses the draw and Boston skates away with a thrilling come from behind 3rd period win and clinch the series 4-3.

Congrats to Bob and the Bruins as they move on to the semi finals.

The Kings scored only 7 goals in 4 home games and Thomas Greiss had a .895 SP on home ice. Hence, the 1-3 record in a very disappointing end to a promising season.

Game 6:
Guess who scored his 5th goal at Boston? Not Ovie…but of course Chris Kunitz got the ball rolling for the Kings…with the 1st goal of the game. Looked grim for the B’s until the B’s hit 2 in a row with Zuccarello and Palat …the B’s held on until Saad tied the game up with a PPG early in the 3rd…A back and forth contest ended in regulation as a tie….which means OT….and in OT Blake Wheeler turned one loose that sent the B’s back to LA for a game 7.

After winning both games in Boston rather handily, the Kings look to close out the Bruins at home. The 1st period is scoreless with the Bruins having a slight edge in shots 12-11. Al Montoya continues his GR saves streak in LA going 4-4 in the 1st. In the 2nd, Boston gets the 1st goal of the game at the 1:37 mark on a sniper’s shot by Jamie Benn. The lead last only 4 minutes as Semin gets a 1-18 past Montoya to tie the game. Just over 6 minutes later, Ovechkin rips a 1-14 past Montoya to give the Kings a 2-1 lead. The teams exchange a few more chances and as the 2nd period gets to just under 2 minutes, Jamie Benn beats Greiss for the 2nd time in the period to tie the game at 2-2 heading to the 3rd period. The 3rd period is a tight affair as the teams exchange shots but limited chances on either end. With less than 5 minutes to go and the score still tied, the Bruins get a PPG from Jason Demers to give them the lead. With the Kings pressing for the tying goal, Tyler Toffoli rips an outside shot by Greiss and suddenly, it is 4-2 with under 2 minutes to go. The Kings have no choice but to pull the goalie and Shea Webers gets to prime chances to beat Montoya, but no, the pucks squirts free to Toffoli for an ENG to seal another win for the road team in this series (currently 4-1). The series shifts back to a pivotal game 6 in the Garden.

Game 3: Destroying the momentum built by the Bruins in splitting games 1 and 2 in LA was the goal of the Kings as they invaded Beantown. And in Game 3 they succeeded! Chris Kunitz’s hat trick and Ovie’s 2 goals never let the B’s get any sort of momentum going. Kunitz almost potted his 4th goal in the game late in the third period as he came up short of a 1-11 rating. The powerplay of the Kings was dominant too as they netted 2. 5-1 was the final score but it could have been worse.

Game 4: A dual action game here as the Kings continued their dominance of the B’s in the Gahden, this time to the tune of 6-1 driving Ben Scrivens out of the net in the third period. Chris Kunitz continued his scoring parade with a goal and two assists, making New England glad to see him depart. Only bright spot for B;s was Ovie missing a 1-15 rating (16).